Breaking Karma

by Charity Ferrell

  She groaned, but didn’t open up her eyes. I felt shitty for waking her up, but I didn’t want her to miss out on this. She was going to love it. I kept my hand on her shoulder, giving it another shake, this one rougher. I couldn’t contain my smile when I spotted one eye flutter open as she looked at me through her long, dark lashes.

  "Good morning, sunshine," I whispered, only to watch her eye close again.

  Well fuck, it was going to be more difficult than I thought. I leaned in for attempt number two.

  “The house better be on fire,” she muttered, putting her arm over her face.

  "I want to show you something,” I replied.

  She yawned loudly before slowly raising up. “What time is it?”

  "Just after six," I answered, waiting for it.

  The mattress moved as she collapsed back on the bed. "It’s not morning for me yet.” I chuckled at the dirty look she was giving me. “Wake me up in a few hours.” She slapped her pillow a few times, plopped her head back down, and shut her eyes again.

  "Nope. Get your ass up.”

  “I can’t function this early. Why are you even awake? You’re a bad boy … or whatever they call you. Aren’t you supposed to practice the whole sleep all day, party all night, bad boy mantra?”

  “Bad boy mantra?” I asked, chuckling. “Get your ass up, and bring your camera.”

  She pointed towards the dresser. “It’s in the case on there. Grab it while I try to convince my body to wake up and not hate me for it.”

  The cold air smacked into my bare chest when I pulled myself out of bed. I jumped at the feel of the freezing floor underneath my heels.

  "You'll need your coat, too," I added.

  Her head jerked up to give me a death stare. "Nope, no way. I've already agreed to get out of bed. The line stops at going outside and freezing my ass off."

  I stopped at the end of the bed and reached my hands underneath the blanket. Grabbing both of her ankles, I pulled her body down, causing her to yelp.

  “Don’t even think about it,” she warned. I grinned, tickling her feet softly as she squirmed in my hold, trying to free herself.

  “Promise me you’ll get up,” I told her, not stopping.

  She kicked her feet. “Fine, I’ll get up.”

  “Say you promise.”

  “Jesus, yes, I promise,” she cried out.

  “And tell me I’m amazing."

  “Are you serious?” she blurted, still fighting me.

  “Dead serious.”

  “Fine asshole, you're amazing!”

  “Not exactly the words I was looking for, but good girl.” I dropped both of her feet at the same time. “You'll be thanking me for this later.”

  "I want to punch you in your face right now, so I highly doubt that.”

  "Get dressed and meet me in the living room in five," I instructed, grabbing her camera.

  "Aye aye, captain."

  "If you try to go back to bed, I will pick you up and take you with me wearing what you have on right now." Her eyes widened with realization that her little plan had been busted.

  "You suck," she moaned, tossing her pillow at me in the doorframe.

  "Five minutes," I called out, walking down the hallway.

  I went to my room and threw on my coat and boots before strolling down the stairs, beating Daisy into the living room.

  "Let's do this," she said, blowing out a breath when she made it downstairs.

  I grabbed her hand and led us out into the chilly morning. I scraped the snow off a bench with my glove-covered hand and motioned for her to sit down.

  “This is breathtaking,” she said, her face glowing in the coming sun. I looked away from her to the gorgeous view rising in front of us. Pink, orange, and yellow clung around the white, snow-capped mountains.

  "I always watch the sun rise from the mountains when I stay here," I told her.

  She fell back, snuggling into my open arms. “I don’t blame you. I could sit out here and look at this all day.”

  I ran my hands through her hair, gently undoing the tangles. “You still want to punch me in the balls?”

  "No, I guess not."

  "I don't even want to know why you two are up this early, let alone outside," a voice called out, startling us. We both whipped around to find Lane standing with the door half open, his head sticking out.

  "We're watching the sunrise," Daisy answered, giving him a smile.

  "Adorable," Lane mumbled, rubbing his sleepy eyes. "Just wait, dude, pretty soon she'll be waking you up at the ass crack of dawn to get her fucking water and," his voice raised to mock Cora’s, “I need to make sure it has fresh lemons in it." He huffed, shaking his head. "High maintenance pain in my ass. Have fun freezing your asses off.” He shut the door, laughing.

  "Looks like Lane isn't much of a morning person," Daisy said.

  I opened the camera bag on my lap, dragged out her camera, and spent the next twenty minutes watching her behind the lens. She was so carefree moving around with it in her hand. She was in her zone. She'd snap a few shots from every angle on the porch, pause, flip through them, and then go through the same process again.

  She pointed the camera my way. “Smile!”

  I covered my face with my hands. “Nu uh.”

  "Stop being difficult," she whined, stomping her boot covered foot in the snow.

  "Only if you come take one with me.”

  "Fine." She plodded back to the bench and sat down. I grabbed the camera from her, turning around the lens so it faced us.

  "Cheese," we both shouted in unison. I smiled, clicking the button, and a bright light flashed in our faces.

  “We look good together,” I said, when she took the camera and showed me our picture. Our heads were slightly touching, tilted in towards each other. But my favorite part was her smile. I knew she was enjoying her time with me. “You know, you could give me a chance,” I told her, out of nowhere.

  She stopped messing with her camera to gape up at me. "I could what?” she asked.

  "Give me a chance. One chance. If I fuck it up, you can kick me in the balls or never talk to me again."

  Her head jerked back. "What are you even talking about?"

  "I'm saying exactly what it sounds like. You and me taking a chance with each other. We could make each other happy."

  She flicked some remaining snow off of the bench and blew out a harsh breath. "Well this is awkward."

  "How? Obviously we both enjoy each other's company, and you can try to deny it all you want, but I know you have feelings for me." I was being forward, maybe too forward, but it needed to be said before I chickened out.

  “What about the other girl?"

  Goddamn, here we go again.

  "Daisy," I said, softly, even though I wanted to scream at her. "Piper and I are nothing. I haven't been with anyone else since your little drunken escapade at Lane's party." Holy shit, I hadn’t had sex in two months.

  "I'm not talking about Piper," she replied, now staring at me.

  "Then who the fuck are you talking about?”

  "The girl you were talking about the other night," she said, confusion crinkling her brows. "The one you said could change your mind about love.”

  Oh hell. I couldn't help but laugh. "Baby, that girl was you.”

  “Oh,” she said, her face brightening up, but then falling back down. “You’re right, I do like you,” she confessed, easing my relief of possible rejection. “I’m just not certain if I’m ready for another relationship yet.”

  “Listen, I’ve never had a relationship, so we’re perfect for each other. I’m not saying if we try, it’s going to foolproof, because it most likely won’t. Shit, we might try this and find out we can’t stand each other. I just know, right now, I need to do what’s right in front of us, and that’s to give us a try. I like spending time with you. We’re comfortable confiding in one another, which means you trust me. And I trust you. When you’re around, I don’t think about my fucked
up family, or about the latest party I need to attend to prove I don’t give a fuck about anything. When I’m with you, I’m content. I’m happy, which is something I haven’t been in awhile. But somehow, Daisy, you bring that out in me.”

  “Wow,” she said, looking at me carefully.

  “Too much?”

  “Definitely a lot, but I wouldn’t say too much.”

  “You don’t have to say anything now. Go home and think about it, but I swear, if you decide to give me a chance, you won’t regret it.”

  DAISY

  Chapter Twenty

  Gabby grabbed a slice of pizza and threw it down on her plate. “Why am I so fucking stupid?” she asked. “Call me the queen of stupidity right here.”

  We were having a girl's day before winter break officially ended. Our day was going to consist of Vampire Diaries in Cora’s basement, which was pretty much an entire house in itself, pizza, and gossiping about what happened during the break.

  "You're not the only one," I said, taking a bite of my slice. “Call us the trio of idiots right here." My index finger created an imaginary circle around the three of us on the sectional we were lounging on.

  Cora grunted from the other side of the couch. "Uh, speak for yourselves.”

  “Don't even try it," I said. "If I recall correctly, you asked Lane if he'd ever had a threesome."

  "Cora," Gabby yelled at her mid-bite. "How could Lane have a threesome if you're the only girl he's ever had sex with? You seriously need to quit listening to Piper's bullshit before you end up single, and he does have a threesome."

  "God, I know," Cora moaned, picking up the touch screen remote and pausing our favorite vampire brothers to explain herself. She grabbed the plate sitting on her lap and set it on the end table next to her. "I didn't exactly ask him if he'd had a threesome, per se. All of us were playing the stupid game, Never Have I Ever," she rolled her eyes, "and my stupid, drunken mouth blurted out shit without thinking. You know how I get when I drink," she looked at Gabby, and Gabby nodded. "I had a bad lapse of judgment."

  "For future reference," she continued. "I'd recommend never playing that ridiculous game with your boyfriend. Or anyone. Ever. All it does is start stupid arguments.” She let out a deep breath. "We're fine now. So on to better and juicer things.”

  "That would be Daisy," Gabby said.

  I held my hands up. "No, not Daisy first," I argued. I still needed some time to prepare my story before I put it all out there for them. "You need to go first because yours sounds much better than mine."

  "You're right. My story probably is juicer, which is why you have to go first. We're saving the dumbest decision anyone could ever make for last.”

  I gulped. "Okay," I said slowly. "I kind-of-sort-of hooked up with Keegan."

  Gabby spat out her pizza. “Hallelujah!” she screamed, throwing her hands up.

  "Ew Gabs," Cora said, disgusted. "That's just sick." She tossed her a napkin.

  Ignoring Cora, Gabby grabbed the napkin and looked directly at me. "Daisy, you have to warn a girl before you start using the words ‘hooked up,’ and ‘Keegan,’ in the same sentence." She winked and covered her regurgitated food on her plate. "First, how do you kind of hook up with someone. Was he your first?"

  Shit, I needed to rewind.

  "Not hooked up like we had sex hooked up," I clarified. What exactly was the real definition of hooking up, anyways? I reminded myself to Google it later. "It was more like, um," I paused, searching for the best word to describe what we'd done, "second base?"

  Oh god, second base? I'd reverted back to my middle school days.

  "Ohhh," Gabby said, stretching out the word with bright eyes. "Second base for you, or second base for him?"

  "Or both?" Cora cut in.

  I looked from one girl then to the other. I had their full attention. They reminded me of two kids waiting in line at the candy store. “He did it to me, so second base for me?” I said, giving Cora a questioning look.

  "That's my girl!" Gabby said, holding her hand out for a high five. “Who called it? That's right, I called it."

  "Wrong," Cora said, holding her arm up. "I'm definitely the one who called it. I knew I should've taken that damn bet."

  "I thought you didn't like Keegan, and he was a manwhore?" I asked. I'd been expecting Cora to warn me away from Keegan, not make bets about us hooking up.

  She shook her head. "It's not that I don't like Keegan. I've known him since we were little. He just pisses me off sometimes, but he's different with you. Even Lane thinks so.”

  “Yeah, normally Keegan is a raging asshole to females, but he’s actually sweet to you,” Gabby said.

  “Our Daisy girl is taming the beast,” Cora added.

  “It’s not like that,” I said, pausing to collect my thoughts. “I actually don’t know what it’s like.”

  I still had my doubts about what Keegan asked me before we left the cabin. Everyone knew he didn’t do relationships, so I wasn’t sure why he was willing to change his rules for me.

  “Give him a chance,” Cora told me. “See if he sticks to his word. Now spill it, Gabby.”

  "Here goes nothing," Gabby said, blowing out a breath. "Well," she hesitated, "that v-card that I always talk about got lost during the break."

  "And why in the hell are you just now telling me this?" She brought her hand to her chest. “Wait a minute. You were at a family party and lost your virginity? That's just sick, Gabby. I told you to stay away from Piper and her messed up family.”

  "Shut up, you know it's not my family," Gabby answered, flipping Cora off. "You’re such a pain in my ass.”

  "Yep, and that's why I am your bestest, and you love me. Now details. I'm already pissed you waited this long to even tell me so you better make up for it with a damn good story."

  “Cora, you know him,” Gabby said. She shoved her face into a pillow.

  Cora sprang up from the couch, grabbed the pillow, and pulled it away from me. "Gabrielle Nicole Taylor. Spill it right now.”

  "Okay okay," Gabby said, shutting her eyes and counting to ten. "Dalton Douglas," she whispered, using her hands to cover her face this time.

  "Piper's brother?" Cora screamed, prying Gabby's skinny fingers away from her face. Gabby nodded while swatting Cora's hands away from her. "You lost your virginity to Satan's freaking brother? What the hell is wrong with you?"

  Whoa. Definitely not what I was expecting. I didn't even know the little demon had a brother.

  "Yes, and now he won’t stop calling me.”

  “How did that even happen? I can’t believe you lost your virginity drunk.”

  “The party was miserable, and everyone looked at me like I was trash. The only thing they had to drink was champagne, so I just chugged glasses of that. I mean, I didn’t think that shit actually got you that drunk. I started wandering around his parent's mansion to get away from everyone, and the next thing I knew, I was in his room. Then his bed. Then we were naked, and I was no longer a virgin.”

  “How romantic,” Cora snorted. “Did you like it?"

  “Hell no. Do you guys remember when you lost your virginities? It hurt like a damn bitch. Any girl who says she got off her first time is a filthy liar.”

  “Didn’t you tell him to go easy on you?” I asked.

  “I didn’t exactly tell him that my good ol’ cherry was still alive and intact. He didn’t find out until I cried out in bloody horror from my poor vagina being ripped to shreds.” I opened my mouth in shock, and Cora laughed.

  “You didn’t stop him?” I asked.

  “He tried to stop, but I insisted he keep going. He'd already broken through, and I needed to get it over with, anyways. I was an eighteen-year-old virgin, which was embarrassing. But now, my vagina is seriously mad at me.”

  “I would be mad at you too if you let a Douglas fuck me,” Cora said.

  Gabby shot her a dirty look. "Can we please go back to the Salvatore brothers? I'm done with this conversation.”


  Chapter Twenty-One

  I glanced up at the knock on my bedroom door. My Aunt Jamie stood in the doorway with a tray in her arms. A box of tissues and two pints of ice cream were on it.

  “Sophia mentioned you were upset when you got home," she said.

  All I did was think about Keegan’s proposal during the ride home from Cora’s house. I wanted to take that leap with him, but I was scared of falling.

  "She's worse than a high school gossip girl," I mumbled, falling slack against my pillow.

  She let out a light laugh. "I'm convinced she gets that from her father. You mind if I come in? I come with ice cream.” I scooted over to give her room to sit down. “I want you to know I’m here if you ever want to talk about anything. In confidence. I won’t break your trust by telling your parents whatever you share with me.” She opened up the ice cream. Rocky road and a spoon came my way. “I know you did some therapy back home, but you haven’t gotten into anything here. I’d be more than happy to find you a good therapist if you’d like me to. When you let your problems build up and fester, it’s harder to move on.”

  "Have you ever felt something for someone that you know you shouldn't?" I asked.

  "Keegan?" Her response surprised me. Was it that obvious? I nodded. “And why shouldn’t you have feelings for him?”

  "Tanner," I whispered.

  “But Tanner is gone.”

  “I know. Which is why I don’t understand how I can have feelings for him when my heart is supposed to be with Tanner. I’m supposed to belong to him.”

  “You're going to have to move on with your life. He’s gone, and he’d want you to live your life, to be happy.”

  "It's only been seven months. It's terrible I'm even having feelings for Keegan this quickly.”

  She grabbed my hand, clasping it in hers. “There's no determined time that someone has to mourn. You do it on your own time, on your own pace, and on your own schedule. Whether it’s days, months, or years, it’s yours. Did your dad ever tell you why I moved away from home?”

  “No, I just thought you got a job here so you moved.”